If something that travels at the speed of light has infinite mass, then why not light and the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum ?
2007-10-03 02:14:54 · 5 answers · asked by John S2005 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
light is not an object, it is a disturbance in the electric field.
it is this disturbance (ie wave) that travels at the speed of light.
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2007-10-03 02:25:30 · answer #1 · answered by The Wolf 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No massive object can travel at the speed of light. Massless objects can only travel at the speed of light.
This is one of the reasons it's a bad idea to interpret Relativity as causing mass to increase. It doesn't. All it does is reduce the amount of acceleration achieved by a given force, when the body is moving at nearly c. Not because the mass increases, but because the reference frames up there are "closer together."
2007-10-03 09:48:40 · answer #2 · answered by ZikZak 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is a misnomer in physics known as rest mass. Light does not have it, and therefore does not have infinite mass when moving at the speed of light.
2007-10-03 12:12:54 · answer #3 · answered by Fred 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the definition of mass is the ratio of force acting on body to acceleration gained by the body.bodies that travel with the speed of light seems insensitive to external forces IF they do have rest masses.but the light doesn't have rest mass so its mass on traveling doesn't equal infinity
2007-10-03 10:38:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light/photons have zero rest mass but they do have momentum
2007-10-03 09:30:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋